Escalation in tension will only help Taliban
Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan remain at a tipping point with needless disputes being the order of the day as the recent slandering match over Pakistan reconstructing an old border gate being the latest in a range of verbal disputes between the two neighbours. What both countries appear not to realize is that their relations are crucial as the NATO troops plan to leave Afghanistan by the end of the year, leaving the Afghan government as the de facto ruling authority across the border.
The media hype created in Afghanistan over the reconstruction of an old border gate in Mohmand Agency by the Pakistani authorities. Kabul dropped its objections after it was told that no new military construction was being carried out by Islamabad along the shared frontier and the issue was only a renovation of an old gate. But for that a delegation of Afghan army officials, led by Afghan National Army Director General Military Operations (DGMO) Major General Afzal Aman, had to visit the General Headquarters (GHQ), Rawalpindi for talks on border coordination. A military spokesman later revealed that “all ongoing cross-border coordination issues including border post construction in Mohmand Agency were discussed and amicably resolved.” The important statement was that the two “sides agreed on continuation of such bilateral interactions to enhance bilateral border coordination and reduce space for detractors.” a military spokesman said. That an issue of everyday border coordination becoming an issue that could ignite the Afghan side to the extent of spurring on student protests in Jalalabad does not bode well as a mirror of the degree of mistrust between the two countries. The Afghan Defence Ministry Spokesman Gen Zahir Azimi claimed that the recent construction of a gate and other facilities along the border took place without any coordination with Afghanistan and President Karzai was reported to have ordered his defence and interior ministries to take immediate action to remove a newly constructed gate, checkpoints and other installations recently built by Pakistan.
The point here is that the issue at hand was not important, where a particular gate is created or not, should be an issue of easy resolution between the two neighbours purported to be fighting a war against the same enemy for over a decade. At this point, with the impending withdrawal of the US and NATO troops, the exact reverse is needed. However, the ease with which the issue was resolved eventually reflects the petty nature of actual disputes between them. There was no need for unnecessary hype and irresponsible statements from the Afghan President Karzai. It must be realized that an escalation of tensions from either side would only help the Taliban and other militants waiting for the NATO troop withdrawal to up the stakes in the conflict in the region.